The Vocality of Scripture
I've been seeing a lot of discussion recently suggesting that those who have a high view of the authority and accuracy of Scripture assert its "univocality." Frequently this is asserted without defining the term, but when it is defined, it is often defined as if it essentially means "inerrant" or "infallible." I find this deeply problematic on multiple levels, at least for those who want to have an open and honest conversation about the concept of Biblical authority and what that entails. I want to make a case here that, even for those with the strongest convictions of Biblical inerrancy, there is absolutely no reason to simultaneously assert its univocality. These are entirely different concepts - in principle, the Bible could be inerrant and multivocal; it could also be errant and univocal. We need to begin with a good definition of "vocality."[1] The term "vocality" has to do with what we should expect of the Scriptures if we as...